Into Aperture
by Flickerlight
Summary: Chell's daughters, Azure and Raina Johnson, accidentally find their way into Aperture Laboratories. They are forced to test, and it won't be easy. With a little bit of help, will they manage to make it out alive? (Even though there are only four characters listed, the story will feature practically all of them. Rated T just in case. Enjoy!)
1. The Shed in the Field

Two young girls stood in front of a worn-down shed in the middle of a vast wheat field. The shed had a few signs posted on the door, and it was surrounded by various debris that had fallen off of the building at some point (or at least that was what the two girls assumed). The girls were young, and they looked around twelve or thirteen. They were around the same height, and they both had longish hair that fell down around their waists, but that was where the resemblance ended.

One girl had raven-black hair and stormy grey eyes. There was a mischievousness sparkle in them that gave a first impression that she was up to no good. Dirt was smeared on her face, and she wore long, tattered pants and a red tank top with numerous holes dotting its surface. Her feet were bare and dirty, as if she didn't have a care in the world as to how others viewed her. You could tell just by looking at her she was in life fun – not for work.

The other girl had shiny brown hair and dark green eyes. You could tell from her posture that she was cautious and careful. She had a worn-down jacket on with a simple white t-shirt smudged with dirt on underneath and grey shorts that fell to her knees. She was a quiet person with a kind smile and soft laugh. But she was quite smart, and enjoyed solving puzzles of all sorts. Her mother, Chell Johnson, often drew puzzles and riddles for her to do on sheets of paper. Her sister, the black-haired girl, had a poor attention span and lacked the patience for complex puzzles. She spent her time playing outside and often dragging her sister along on excursions into the forest they lived in. It wasn't far from the wheat field they were currently in.

Raina and Azure Johnson were twins, the daughters of Chell Johnson. Their father had been a trader while he was still alive – he had been shot by a madman a few months before the birth of the twins. Chell had always defined him as a funny, kind man. Azure assumed that Raina took after him more than she took after their mother. From the way Chell had described him, they both had the same scatterbrained sense of humor and short attention span. Raina took after their mother in one sense, however – they were both mute. Chell had learned sign language and taught it to the girls. This was primarily how they communicated – Azure was the only one who could speak, and she hardly ever did. She saw no reason to, since everyone else in her family used sign language anyway. The girls knew their mother as a former farm girl. Chell had told them this to shield them from ever knowing about Aperture Science, as they would only get nosy.  
_One day I'll tell them, when they're older, _Chell told herself often. Although she knew that, in her heart, she would not – she didn't want GLaDOS or any of Aperture's other messed up inventions anywhere near her daughters.

They lived a simple life in their small house in the forest, and Chell liked it that way. She taught Raina and Azure how to hunt, and once a week they would go into the nearby town for the weekly market where they would trade their game for money and other necessities. Chell let them have their freedom to explore, so long as they were back by six P.M. every day. Her daughters liked it that way, too, but they had long been curious about the mysterious shed in the middle of the wheat field.

_Come on – you promised me we would go in today! _Raina conveyed to her sister with her hands, a mildly irritated look on her face. Azure shook her head defiantly.  
_I never said that! _She replied indignantly._ I said we could look around the _outside _of it! Besides, mom said not to go in. There's probably only rusty tools in their anyway – it's smaller than our bedroom, and you _know _how small our bedroom is! _Raina rolled her eyes at her sister.  
_There is _no way _mom can find out. First of all, it's only ten A.M., and if it really is just a shed – which is probably is, but we don't know that for sure – then we'll be out of there in a flash! Right?  
_Azure sighed reluctantly. She was right, after all. There was no way their mom would miss them, since it was a very long time before sunset and if it really was a shed (what else could it be, anyway?) they would just be out in a minute, no sweat.  
_Maybe just a quick look around._ Azure consented in sign language. Raina flashed a cheesy grin and gave her sister a quick hug before turning to face the door.

She tried to the doorknob and, to her an Azure's surprise, the door swung open. Azure had thought that if it was a storage shed for tools used for harvesting the wheat that grew so abundantly, the shed would be locked up tight by the owner. As the girls stepped into the shed, the door slammed behind them with an alarming _BANG! _Azure and Raina turned, looking at it with a mix of wonder and fright.  
"That can't be good," Azure muttered automatically, actually using her voice. Raina nodded, but looked as curious as ever.  
_I'm sure it will open back up if we shove it a little! _She told Azure optimistically. _But we still need to look ar-  
_Raina stopped, mid-sentence, as the floor beneath the two girls started moving. It felt like it was taking them down, under the earth's surface. _It's an elevator, _Azure thought to herself with a jolt.  
_We're in an elevator. But an elevator to…where?_

_This is _SO _much fun! _Raina conveyed, silently giggling.  
Azure thought she was going to barf.  
Her legs felt shaky beneath her as the device sped along underground. In a brief flash, Azure caught a glimpse of a great, big chamber. It was empty, except she had seen a blur of something _really _big that was painted camouflage in the back window. But in an instant it was gone, and they could see different layers of a building blurring past them. Azure's hands trembled as the clutched the side of the elevator.  
Just how far down would it take them?

She got her answer soon, as the elevator screeched to an abrupt halt. They had arrived in a rather large room, with black paneled walls and grey, metallic flooring. It was completely empty, if you didn't count the very large, bulky machine hanging from the ceiling. It looked quite menacing, with its big body and glaring yellow eye. Out of the corner of her eye, Azure could see her idiotic sister staring at it in wonder.  
"What a great day." The machine said in a sarcastic, feminine voice, "first, the whole batch of recently produced turrets decided to start shooting holes out of their boxes and at _my _facility. And now two human pests come down for a leisurely visit. Just perfect."

* * *

_Uggghh. I'm so sorry for how cruddy this first chapter is. I was in a bit of a rush when I typed it. I won't be able to update that often because of school, but I promise to do my best! ^.^'_

_More coming soon!_


	2. Testing TIme

Azure and Raina stood in front of the massive machine that had just addressed them, expressions on their faces that could only be described as awestruck. For a while, the three just looked back and forth between one another.  
Finally, the machine broke the silence.

"Fourteen years," It said, in its monotone voice, "Fourteen years I've tested peacefully and undisturbed by humans or any other troublesome species. It's been nice; testing, fixing the facility piece by piece after that _moron _ruined it. It figures; today of all days, I get the _honor _of being graced by human presence."  
Heavy sarcasm was laced into the machine's sentences. Its yellow optic flickered from one girl to the next and then back again. Azure frowned as she watched it glare at them unhappily.

_What's today, exactly? _Raina said in sign language. The machine gave a low chuckle that made shivers run down both girls' spines.

"Another mute one. I guess it's common among humans. I'm glad I took the two seconds off of my busy schedule to download sign language into my hard drive. I assume you can't speak either?"  
The machine swiveled her bulky, white face to look directly at Azure, who hastily shook her head but said nothing.  
"Hmm. Well, I suppose I should tell you what today is, since you took all the trouble of coming down here..."

The girls looked up expectantly, curiosity flaring in their eyes.

"…but I'm not going to, because it's none of your business. Now, get out of my facility, before…actually, I have a better idea."

_You'll let us leave unscathed? _Raina signed, a sheepish smile on her face. Azure shook her head, chuckling. It was obvious that the machine had other plans for them to her.

"Oh, I'm sure that's what you want. Tell you what…" The machine began in her monotone voice, "if you complete a few simple tests for me, I'll let you go. I've been running short on subjects recently – none of them are all that smart. How smart are you two?"  
Raina looked dumbfounded. Azure stared at the massive machine, fear evident in her shaky gaze.

"I, uh, well…I…I mean, I-I-I guess I'm-" Azure stammered, only to be cut off.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Actually, I suppose it matters quite a bit to you two, because if you fail in these tests, well…there will be consequences. You'll see once you get in. I'm sure you two will work it out pleasantly. Hmm, it's been a while since I had anybody do cooperative testing. This should be fun. I suppose you two will need Dual Handheld Portal Devices..."

"Erm, excuse me…" Azure said in her quiet voice, "but I'm a little bit confused. What's a Dual Handheld Portal Device? What kind of tests will there be? Are they like the Standardized Tests my friend from the city told me about?"

Azure hoped they wouldn't be. Her friend Annabelle had said they were horrible.

At this, the machine let out another low laugh. "Oh, I can assure you that they are quite different from the tests they issue at human schools. As for what they're like…well, you will find out soon enough, trust me. A Dual Handheld Portal Device is exactly what the name suggests – it's a handheld machine that shoots two portals at a time from it. Before the testing starts, I'll give you a basic rundown on how to operate it."

Suddenly, two platforms rose from the floor, and each had a white device on it that resembled a gun. The girls walked over to the platforms, one cautiously, the other energetically, and each picked up one. They each found a slot in which they could fit their arm into to hold it. Each portal gun fit snugly onto the temporary owner's hand.

"As I previously said, each Dual Handheld Portal Device shoots two portals. Each portal is a different color. The brunette's Dual Handheld Portal Device shoots a light green portal and a dark green portal. The mute girl's Dual Handheld Portal Device shoots a bright pink portal and a light red portal."

Raina scrunched up her face in dislike of the color pink, but the excitement in her eyes never dulled for a second.

"To operate the Dual Handheld Portal Device, press the two buttons on the inside. They should be near your pointer fingers. If they aren't you have a defective device that you should return to me immediately so I can repair it. One will shoot one colored portal, and the other button shoots the other one. There should be another button near your thumb. Press that button to pick up objects used for testing such as the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube – an object that will appear frequently throughout testing."

_Got it! _Raina conveyed. _Let's do this thing and _still _get back before sunset. What a story we'll have to tell mom!_

Azure had no intention to tell their mother they had obeyed her direct rule _not _to go into the shed in the field, but she had to admit, she was fascinated with the idea of a portal gun. She was a bit nervous about this 'testing' thing, however – what if they got hurt? The machine had made it sound just a bit dangerous. But they didn't have much of any other choice, she knew, so she would do it if it meant getting out of this strange place.

"Any other things we should know before we get starting?" Azure asked. 

"You'll need Long Fall Boots."

* * *

The girls took their first tentative steps out of the elevator.

As they had re-entered it, Azure had made sure to get a good look at the machine they would be preforming these 'tests' for. She had noticed a label painted onto it – GLaDOS, it had said.

Was that the machines name? GLaDOS?

Azure didn't know, and didn't want to annoy her with any more questions. They were at this thing's mercy, after all.

The two sisters, side by side, ascended a short flight of stairs and stepped through a round, futuristic looking door and tentatively looked around. Azure glimpsed a monitor on the wall flicker to life. It read, **TEST CHAMBER 01**. Beneath it, a few signs were illuminated.

"We'll start you off with a simple test." GLaDOS's voice echoed throughout the room. "Its purpose is to give you a basic feel for using the Dual Handheld Portal Device and working together to complete the test. You may begin at any time."

_This looks simple enough! _Raina signed. Azure nodded, smiling at her warmly. They could take anything that was put in their way, she was sure of it.

The test chamber was fairly small. There was a ledge on the other side of a shining blue wall that looked a bit like a force field. On top of the ledge sat a box – what had GLaDOS called it? A Weighted Storage Cube or something?

On the west edge of the room was another circular door, which Azure assumed was the exit. A button was on the floor nearby the door.

_Watch this! _Raina told Azure, motioning with her hands excitedly. She then shot a portal at the ceiling, and then directly underneath herself. As a result she fell through both in an infinite loop, laughing silently.

"Okay, goofball." Azure laughed, not using sign language because she was certain that Raina was going too fast to tell what she would have said if she had. After a moment, Raina leaned to the side a bit so she would land just out of range of the bottom portal. She looked dizzy, but her trademark grin had not been wiped from her face.

_That was awesome, _she told her sister, stumbling around just a bit.

_Wait here. I want to try something. _Azure signed, walking toward the force field. She shot a light green portal at the wall next to it, and then tried to shoot one through it, only to have it fizzle. She then proceeded to poke it with her finger, cringing because she was worried it would get fried. It didn't, though, and her finger went through it. She stepped through the rest of the way, and the light green portal she had shot vanished.

_So that's what it does, _Azure thought.

"Okay, Raina!" She said, calling across the chamber to her sister, who was now shooting portals everywhere and walking through them just for the heck of it.

"I see what we need to do. I'll shoot a portal up there…" - she paused, directing her light green portal to the top of the ledge – "and you shoot one over there, come up to the ledge where I am, and grab the cube. Then you put it on the button, and we're out of here!"

Quickly, they did this. As Raina set the cube down on the button, the metal double-doors slid open.

"Well done." GLaDOS's voice rang out once more. "But this test is just the beginning – a simple one, to give you an idea of the others. Anyone could have done this one…save perhaps the _moron _who ruined my facility all those years ago." When she said this, her voice turned hateful and bitter. Azure wondered who the moron was.

"That doesn't matter now, though," GLaDOS said, her voice optimistic once more. "On to the next test with you two. Off you go."

* * *

_Yikes! It took me all day to get this done, but that's because I had Soccer practice and a lot of homework. Oh well! I'm pretty happy with this chapter. It was better than the last one, at least! Anyway, I'll try to get another chapter up tomorrow, but it may not be until Thursday. Depends on homework, and my schedule, since I can only write when I'm at my dad's house (my parents are divorced, and that's where my computer is).  
__More coming soon! C:_


	3. Race to the Finish

The girls emerged from the thirteenth test chamber they had been through that day slowly, shuffling along as quickly as they could manage. Raina's eyes had dulled from their shiny optimism – Azure suspected that if she had nearly fallen off of a bridge made of solid light and into a pit of turrets, she would be less than happy, too.

GLaDOS was not being especially rude, aside from her usual sarcasm and heavy criticism. She did snap at them often after she felt that they had gone through a previous test too slowly, though, and Azure was sure that she had fizzled the turret she had tried to save from deactivation by lining it up against a wall on purpose, despite what she had said about 'accidentally inputting the wrong code.'  
Azure wasn't quite sure why, but she had become quite fond of the turrets. She loved their tiny little voices and how helpless they looked and how helpless they sounded when she picked them up. She tried to spare as many as she could, and for some reason this irritated GLaDOS.

"They're meant to be destroyed," GLaDOS had told Azure in an irritated voice, "so you don't need to feel bad about murdering them. They're just machines. They don't have feelings, because they weren't programed that way. In fact, killing them was an original requirement of the test, so it would be better for you to deactivate them anyway."

Azure had disregarded GLaDOS's advice. She hated killing the turrets. Her sister, on the other hand, shook her head in disdain.

_For once, the freaky robot lady is right. _Raina told Azure. _You really should just knock the dumb things over. They're creepy._

Azure stepped into her dark-green elevator, and watched her sister walk into the light red on parallel to her. _Are we ever going to stop testing?_ Azure thought to herself with a sense of dread. The thought of staying in this place forever alarmed her.

_Maybe Mom will find us! I mean, it _is _one of the only places we could have wandered off to. But, then again, we live in such a big forest…maybe she'll think we got lost in there…_

Azure reached down and clutched her stomach with one hand as she watched the walls speed past just outside of the lift. She was currently having bad pangs of homesickness, and she felt a small tear escape her right eye. She quickly brushed it away, telling herself to be strong.

Finally, the elevator slowed to a stop, and the girls stepped out. This room was a bit different from the others. The door leading to the test chamber was the same, but there was a rectangular window on the other side of the room. The girls immediately walked up to it and peered through it curiously. Just beyond, two robots stood. One was tall with a yellow-orange optic, and the other was short and squat with a blue optic. The tall robot waved at them and squeaked a bit.

"Green, Red," GLaDOS said, using the names she had designated to Azure and Raina, "this is Orange and Blue. You two cooperative testing initiatives will be participating in a test together – a race, to say. I thought it up as a little experiment when I was sorting through all those testing clips from years and years ago. I thought it might be interesting to see who would reach the finish first – the humans, or the AIs."

Azure nodded in understanding and when she looked over at her sister, she was not surprised to see the excited, competitive gleam reignited in her grey eyes. Azure glanced over at the illuminated board that read **TEST CHAMBER 14**, looking down at the symbols under it. She was relieved to see that the sign for turrets was deactivated – she wasn't sure Raina could put up with any more at the moment. The signs that were illuminated were those for Aerial Faith Pads, Thermal Discouragement Beams, Discouragement Redirection Cubes, toxic water, and that pointless sign indicated that there was no drinking fountain – not that there were drinking fountains in the chambers that did not have that illuminated. There was the familiar, brief click that indicated that GLaDOS was about to speak, and then her voice echoed through the rooms once more.

"The doors will open in three…"

Both teams sprinted over to the door.

"Two…"

Raina yawned abruptly, covering her mouth with one hand.

"One."

The round sliding doors opened quickly. Azure darted out, just behind Raina. Through a screen to their left she could see Blue and Orange – were those their real names, she wondered, just as Raina and her names were not actually Red and Green?

Azure shook the thought away. She needed to focus – part of her wanted to prove she could be these robots greatly. Another part insisted that it really did not matter who won.  
Her eyes surveyed the test room quickly, taking everything in. She walked over to the end of the ledge they were standing on and peered down. Toxic water was at the bottom, a good drop down, along with a single portable surface. Azure assumed that she would need that for getting across a long gap. On the other side of the room, directly across from her, there was a Thermal Discouragement Beam coming down from the ceiling. To its right was the door out, with the beam receiver directly above it. Covering this area was an Emancipation Grill, and there were no portable surfaces in the area beyond it. To Azure's right was a button, which would release the Redirection Cube on the other side of the Emancipation Grill. Behind her was a pit of panel which was tilted up slightly so that someone could launch over to the other side. Azure turned to Raina and conveyed what they had to do in sign language, not wanted Blue and Orange to overhear. Raina shot a portal down at the surface in the toxic water, and at the tilted piece of panel.

Azure took a deep breath and jumped down at the red portal, which was down in the water, and willed herself not to miss. She picked up speed rapidly, and shut her eyes as she hit the portal. An instant after she felt her feet collide with solid ground, and she opened her eyes with a sigh of relief. She had safely landed on the other side of the gap, beyond the Emancipation Grill.  
She gestured for Raina to hit the button that would release the Redirection Cube, and her sister complied. Azure walked over to it and used her portal gun to pick it up, and she quickly redirected it at the wall past the Emancipation Grill, where Raina shot her pink portal, and then the red went directly above the door they came in so that the beam hit the receiver right above the exit. Now they faced another problem – getting Raina over to Azure's side.

Azure was mulling this over when the sisters heard a cheerful chattering coming from the other side of the room, along with a door sliding open. She groaned inwardly when she saw Orange and Blue high-fiving, and then proceeding to exit the chamber. It was only as she was walking out – the door had automatically opened once they lost, and Raina had come over to her side – that she saw the gap in the Emancipation grill near the top of the ceiling. It was now clear to her what they should have done – redirected the Discouragement Beam at her side of the room, and then shoot one portal on the wall where it was hitting and then use the gap to shoot a portal across from the receiver. Then Raina could have come over without her portals disappearing and the beam no longer reaching the receiver.

"Oh, that's sad," GLaDOS said flatly, "but it _was _expected. After all Orange and Blue have tested for years. You two only started earlier today – it's not your fault you're slow-moving and inefficient." Azure's hands clenched into fists at her sides as she trudged over to the lift. She hated the facility right then – why couldn't she and Raina have stayed away?

But there was nothing to be done now. They just had to keep calm and carry on testing.


End file.
